RUGBY: Victoria defends conference crown with dominant 67-12 win over UBC

Recap courtesy University of Victoria Sports Information. Photos by Justin Morash.

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Victoria Vikes led from start to finish in a 67-12 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds to capture the Canada West women's rugby championship Sunday at Wallace Field.

The title marks Victoria's second conference title in a row and comes one year after falling to UBC in last season's U SPORTS final. After both teams posted convincing semifinal victories earlier in the weekend, the rematch between the conference's top two programs quickly tilted in the Vikes' favour.

Victoria opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Larah Wright broke free for a long run to the try line, with Olivia Newsome adding the conversion. Newsome later added a penalty goal before UBC got on the board in the 20th minute through Teniola Epemolu, cutting the deficit to 10-5.

That would be as close as the Thunderbirds would get.

The Vikes responded with 19 unanswered points to close the first half. Kendra Cousineau crossed in the 23rd minute before Wright added two more tries off dominant Victoria scrum play to complete a first-half hat trick. Victoria carried a 29-5 lead into halftime after controlling possession and territory for much of the opening 40 minutes.

Victoria continued to build its advantage immediately after the break. Less than a minute into the second half, Maddy Grant took the ball about 30 metres from the try line and powered through multiple defenders, breaking several tackle attempts on her way to the score to extend the lead to 34-5.

Piper Walsh added another try eight minutes later before UBC's second score of the afternoon, a second try from Epemolu, cut the deficit to 41-12 in the 64th minute.

The Vikes put the game away with four tries over the final 11 minutes. Walsh scored her second of the match before Emilie Brett added another. Krissy Scurfield then broke loose for a pair of long-range tries in the closing minutes and converted both scores herself to cap the victory.

Victoria's depth was evident throughout the afternoon, with 10 tries coming from seven different scorers and contributions spread throughout the lineup.

Wright's three-try performance earned her Canada West Championship MVP honours.

"I'm very proud of our program and where it's at right now," said Victoria head coach Brittany Waters. "We had an alumni event last night and talked about the journey of the Vikes, where we've come from and the people who helped get us to this point. It was pretty special to share that with everyone.

"The group that took the field today performed very well from top to bottom. One of our biggest strengths right now is the depth we have in our program. We're able to maintain that level for 80 minutes, and that's pretty special.

"We're looking forward to nationals and carrying this momentum forward. We were here last year and won Can West, which was excellent for the program, but we know we need to keep putting in performances like this if we want to be national champions. We're happy, but we're definitely not satisfied."

The victory caps a dominant conference playoff run for Victoria, which outscored its opponents 143-26 over two matches after defeating the Alberta Pandas 76-14 in Thursday's semifinal.

UBC, the defending U SPORTS champion, finishes as the conference silver medallist after defeating the Lethbridge Pronghorns in the semifinal round.

Lethbridge went on to claim bronze after defeating Alberta 29-26 earlier in the day.

Both UBC and Victoria will now turn their attention to the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship in Guelph from Nov. 4-8, where they will represent Canada West after advancing through conference championship weekend.

Gold Medal Game Scoring Summary

First Half

8’ VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 7-0 VIC

18’ VIC PG - #15 Olivia Newsome, 10-0 VIC

20’ UBC Try - #14 Teniola Epemolu, conversion missed, 10-5 VIC

23’ VIC Try - #2 Kendra Cousineau, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 17-5 VIC

31’ VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion #15 Olivia Newsome, 24-5 VIC

37’ VIC Try - #8 Larah Wright, conversion missed, 29-5 VIC

Second Half

41’ VIC Try - #13 Maddy Grant, conversion missed, 34-5 VIC

49’ VIC Try - #5 Piper Walsh, conversion #12 Maggie MacKinnon, 41-5 VIC

64’ UBC Try - #14 Teniola Epemolu, conversion #10 Sarah MacPherson, 41-12 VIC

69’ VIC Try - #5 Piper Walsh, conversion #16 Remee Brown, 48-12 VIC

71’ VIC Try - #22 Emilie Brett, conversion missed, 53-12 VIC

77’ VIC Try - #11 Krissy Scurfield, conversion #11 Krissy Scurfield, 60-12 VIC

80’ VIC Try - #11 Krissy Scurfield, conversion #11 Krissy Scurfield, 67-12 VIC